In Flight Entertainment Systems (IFE)

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U

user 6862

Engineer
Joined
Jun 18, 2009
Messages
2,201
jis said:
You will have the very good moving map display on the screen in front of you or on your smartphone/iPad/Kindle depending on how you connect with the IFE. That will show you more or less precisely what you are flying over.
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jis, bear with me as I'm not too interested in tech stuff, but what is IFE ? Is internet on board a flight usually an extra cost or available to everyone within the ticket price. When we travel I use a small laptop, more or less just use the phone as a phone.
 
v v said:
jis, bear with me as I'm not too interested in tech stuff, but what is IFE ? Is internet on board a flight usually an extra cost or available to everyone within the ticket price. When we travel I use a small laptop, more or less just use the phone as a phone.
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IFE = In-Flight Entertainment, namely the seatback screen in front of you (or from inside the armrest for bulkhead and emergency exits). Internet is an extra cost on almost every airline.
 
PVD said:
Some of the airlines have moved IFE to streaming and either issue tablets, or you bring your own device. Out of NYC, JetBlue does provide free internet everyone else is $ as far as I know.
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AFAIR United has both seatback screen and free streaming of a limited program from an on board source, and that includes moving maps and such. In addition you can pay to get internet connectivity off board. AFAIR this is on their new international planes (77W,78x) and being progressively retrofitted to their older international planes.
 
jis said:
AFAIR United has both seatback screen and free streaming of a limited program from an on board source, and that includes moving maps and such. In addition you can pay to get internet connectivity off board.
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That was my experience when I flew United internationally. On the other hand, Southwest had you connect your device (phone, tablet, laptop) to on-board wifi, where you get a moving map and some limited entertainment (with ads, if I remember correctly) free, and you can pay for more and internet.
 
MARC Rider said:
That was my experience when I flew United internationally. On the other hand, Southwest had you connect your device (phone, tablet, laptop) to on-board wifi, where you get a moving map and some limited entertainment (with ads, if I remember correctly) free, and you can pay for more and internet.
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United was going the Southwest way in the waning days of Smisek. But they reversed course and specially of late have been aggressively standardizing on the way you saw on their international flights. I am not sure what they are doing on domestic only aircraft. The restoration and standardization accelerated with Scott Kirby taking over as CEO, though it had started in Munoz's time.
 
jis said:
United was going the Southwest way in the waning days of Smisek. But they reversed course and specially of late have been aggressively standardizing on the way you saw on their international flights. I am not sure what they are doing on domestic only aircraft. The restoration and standardization accelerated with Scott Kirby taking over as CEO, though it had started in Munoz's time.
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While the rollout is going to be a bit slow, UA is planning to put seatback screens on their (non-RJ?) domestic fleet. The MAX 8 and any new deliveries going forward will feature these screens, and supposedly any planes with more than a few years of life left in them will get them retrofitted. https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/company/new-and-improved-united-airlines-fleet.html
 
If they are going to have streaming to devices, they really need to get more seats installed with a clip on the seatback to hold your tablet. American Airlines has a pretty good design, but those seats are few and far between.
 
jis said:
United was going the Southwest way in the waning days of Smisek. But they reversed course and specially of late have been aggressively standardizing on the way you saw on their international flights. I am not sure what they are doing on domestic only aircraft. The restoration and standardization accelerated with Scott Kirby taking over as CEO, though it had started in Munoz's time.
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Is Channel 9 still pretty much dead? Was always the best part of a flight.
 
v v said:
jis, bear with me as I'm not too interested in tech stuff, but what is IFE ? Is internet on board a flight usually an extra cost or available to everyone within the ticket price. When we travel I use a small laptop, more or less just use the phone as a phone.
Click to expand...

Depends on the airline and/or the aircraft. I remember way back in the 90s, I flew first class once and while the movies only looped, we all had personal displays and could select from several channels. The traditional method was to have just regular TVs and one watches the movie from just a few in the cabin.

By about 2007, personal seat back displays were more common although they were generally just looping the same content rather than any kind of on demand content. I flew on one of the newer 777s back then, but on an older 747 going back home. The older plane still had CRTs. Maybe one at each bulkhead and several that dropped down from the ceiling.

I guess the latest is inflight movies on demand. They can be through a seatback display although a lot of shorter range aircraft don't have them. Inflight Wi-Fi can be used to stream content to passengers. It doesn't necessarily need internet access because the systems have all the content already stored on a server on the plane. Satellite internet may be available, although how it's paid for varies. There might be a charge per 4 hours, and entire flight, or even a monthly rate for frequent travelers. I think some are even a network across different airlines.

The content might require installation of an app on certain devices - like gogo Inflight. A few airlines build their entertainment systems into their general purpose airline apps. But many will just bring up the sign-in/payment information when one tries to pull up any web page. I've rarely paid for it since it can be pricey (and unreliable) but often they might have direct access for free to specific websites - especially the airline.

In kind of unrelated stuff, I do remember the time we needed to get visas after booking overseas travel, but forgot to print out an itinerary or ticket receipt. The consulate referred us to a computer service place, but it was closed. We asked at a hotel and they said they had paid internet access (using a credit card) at a computer in the corridor. But we checked and they strangely had a free "boarding pass" printing option with free access to several airline websites (including our airline). We could pull up our reservation that way and the printing was free. I'm not sure if it was meant for non-guests to use for free, but an employee sent us there so I didn't feel bad about it.
 
PVD said:
Some of the airlines have moved IFE to streaming and either issue tablets, or you bring your own device. [...] It is an interesting divide in the industry, some airlines are trying to eliminate seatback screens, and others are doubling down on them and making them larger and better.
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Having seatback screens is a nice benefit for long haul but for domestic flights I'm fine using my own devices and content to avoid having my music or movie interrupted to hear another ELI5 announcement.

PVD said:
Out of NYC, JetBlue does provide free internet everyone else is $ as far as I know.
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You can receive free airborne internet through mobile and ISP benefits but outside of B6 I'm not aware of any airline that provides internet for free with your airfare. Airline websites work in mobile mode without paying.

Ryan said:
Is Channel 9 still pretty much dead? Was always the best part of a flight.
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jis said:
Theoretically it was there the last time I flew in early 2020, but it was never activated.
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When I was flying UA regularly CH9 was typically disabled on departure but the flight deck would often turn it on if you asked the purser to request it for you. Need to be on UA-ordered mainline aircraft though.
 
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Please don't laugh when you read this post. I am a new smartphone owner and I am trying to learn how to use the phone. What is "airplane mode" and how does one activate it?
 
Dakota 400 said:
I have a Samsung Galaxy A12.
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Things move around some between different versions of Android, but if you pull down the top of the screen, you'll probably see a row of buttons for quick settings. If one of them isn't a picture of an airplane, pull down again to see more buttons.

If you still can't find an airplane, open Settings and look for it. You'll have to select a category to find it. On my phone, it's in the Connections settings. Some versions of Android have a Search button at the top of the Settings screen to find a setting.

In addition to turning off cellular, Airplane Mode should also turn off Wi-Fi. You just need to turn Wi-Fi back on by hitting the Wi-Fi button in the quick settings.
 
Lots of IFE systems in use, and some airlines have many different systems across their fleets. Some are wireless based, others are based on different satellite systems. Some planes and some airlines don’t have IFE installed. As airlines get newer planes and rehabilitate seating, IFE gets more commonly installed over time with newer and better systems in place. Im surprised that some airlines forgo IFE altogether as I would think it would be a useful way to selectively target ads and generate profit and could have some sort of content attached. The big screens in First Class on many airlines look extremely nice and these systems keep improving.
 
Devil's Advocate said:
Having seatback screens is a nice benefit for long haul but for domestic flights I'm fine using my own devices and content to avoid having my music or movie interrupted to hear another ELI5 announcement.
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Seatback displays are horrible, especially if the seat leans back. I know some can tilt a little, but it's not great. I always preferred the ones that came out of the armrest. These are often found in bulkhead or exit row seats. Sometimes in business or first.
 
joelkfla said:
Things move around some between different versions of Android, but if you pull down the top of the screen, you'll probably see a row of buttons for quick settings. If one of them isn't a picture of an airplane, pull down again to see more buttons.

If you still can't find an airplane, open Settings and look for it. You'll have to select a category to find it. On my phone, it's in the Connections settings. Some versions of Android have a Search button at the top of the Settings screen to find a setting.

In addition to turning off cellular, Airplane Mode should also turn off Wi-Fi. You just need to turn Wi-Fi back on by hitting the Wi-Fi button in the quick settings.
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Thank you for your advice. I miss my 3G flip phone.
 
Barb Stout said:
What is Channel 9?
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Usually it's something like jazz music but sometimes it's set to air traffic control. The last time I was on a UA flight I was unsure how to bring up CH9 anymore. I think it only works with pre-2010 UA specific hardware.

adamj023 said:
Im surprised that some airlines forgo IFE altogether as I would think it would be a useful way to selectively target ads and generate profit and could have some sort of content attached.
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Personal IFE systems include a substantial weight penalty that can push some flights into the red.

BCL said:
Seatback displays are horrible, especially if the seat leans back. I know some can tilt a little, but it's not great. I always preferred the ones that came out of the armrest. These are often found in bulkhead or exit row seats. Sometimes in business or first.
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Early front projection screens were horrible. The washed out visuals, clumsy pulldown screens, air tube audio, and limited content left a lot to be desired. The 1990's-era AVOD systems were a major improvement by comparison. These days it's the excessive advertising and forced freezing during every public address that annoys me.
 
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